Twine



INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

Filed Jan. 23, 1934 E. W. BROWN ET AL TWINE cannot contact throughout, thus causing rela Patented Nov. 24, I936 TWINE Ernest W. Brown, Park Ridge, 111., and Robert C.

Farrell, Wood-Ridge, N. J., assignors to Whitlock Cordage Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application January 23, 1934, Serial No. 707,892

4 Claims. (01. 117-2) 1 lar cross-section and has the undesirable charbecause of the weight of the superposed packages,

and in addition the twine spaces the superposed bundles or the like so that the adjacent surfaces tive tilting of packages or bundles in a tier. In order to avoid formation of grooves or depressions in -articles,packages or bundles and to facilitate stacking of the same in tiers, use has heretofore been made of fabric, paper or metal tape, which, by reason of its wide faces, distributes the pressure applied by it to packages and the like over a much wider surface than does round twine and which, by reason of its thinness, does not space the adjacent faces of articles, etc. stacked in tiers. Such tapes are more expensive than twine of equal strength and so result in higher cost to the user.

An object of this invention is a fiat twine which avoids the objectionable characteristics of round twine and is less expensive than tapes of equal strength.

One embodiment of the invention comprises a x plurality of fibre yarns twisted together and pressed into fiat configuration While another embodiment consists of a single fibre yarn pressed into fiat configuration. Such twine has the advantages of a tape as a tying medium and is much stronger than tapes of equal cost per foot. Preferably, the twine is composed of three or more yarns as such multiple-ply twine seems to be better adapted to the flattening process.

In the manufacture of flat fibre twine, a regular soft twist twine may first be made up from a plurality of yarns in the well-known manner. Preferably, the twist in the yarn should be as slight as is practically possible so as to prevent fibre breakage in the subsequent compression operation. The twine is then subjected to pressure by being passed between a pair or successive pairs of pressure rollers which apply progressively increasing pressure, the pressure applied by the rollers being dependent upon the size of the twine. During the compression operation, heat may be applied to the twine to facilitate the fiattening operation. Each yarn. of the twine as well as the whole mass of twine is flattened during the compressing operation. If desired, the twine may be moistened before being compressed and steam or water may be for this purpose or starch solution may be used for moistening as well as for the purpose of giving a finished appearance to the twine. If the twine is moistened prior to the compression operation, the moisture may be driven out during the compressing operation by heat applied thereto during such operation. Also a single yarn may be spun from a fibre sliver and after it has been moistened with starch solution may be reduced to fiat configuration by the compression apparatus.

In a typical four-ply fiat twine, each yarn runs approximately 750 feet to the pound and each yarn is spun with twelve turns to the foot while the yarns are twisted together with nine turns to the foot. The twisting together of the yarns to form the twine untwists the yarns so that the twist of each yarn is very materially reduced. A typical single yarn twine will run approximately 250 feet to the pound and is spun with seven turns to the foot. In the flattening operation, the force applied to the rollers may be of the order of 400 pounds if a single pair of rollers is used or may start with approximately 100 pounds at the first pair of rollers and be increased to approximately 300 pounds at the last pair of rollers if a series of rollers is employed.

The flattened twine above described is not lim ited to use as a tying medium, but may be used for Weaving rugs or other fabrics or for binding.

books or other articles. A rug woven from such twine is highly durable and wear-resisting. The flattened configuration of the twine gives a large contact of surface for a. given weight of material.

Other objects, novel features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figs. 1 and 1a. illustrate apparatus for producing fiat twine;

Fig. 2 illustrates the twine in its several stages of formation, the last stage showing the twine in elevation and the twine in this figure being shown on a larger scale than in the other figures;

Fig. 2a. is a plan view of the finished twine;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of the flattening apparatus substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 illustrates a single yarn twine, and

Fig. '7 is a section on the line '!'I of Fig. 6.

In the drawing, H] is a guide plate having holes (not shown) through which yarns Y are fed to the die ll of a standard twisting machine from which the twine T passes to a standard wind-up reel (not shown). Preferably, the yarns Y are soft-twisted so that in the twine T, the twist in the yarns approaches as nearly as possible to zero. There is thus formed a soft twist round twine which is next subjected to compression in order to convert it into flat configuration. The twine may be conditioned for the flattening operation by passage through a suitable moistening device I3 in which the twine is thoroughly moistened or it may be compressed without being moistened. The twine is flattened by being fed through a succession of pressure rollers M which are so adjusted that the twine is subjected to progressively increasing pressures. During its passage through the compressing apparatus, the twine may be heated to facilitate the compression operation, the heat being supplied by means of heaters 15 extending longitudinally of the compression apparatus at opposite sides of the pressure rollers. The heat thus supplied will also drive out the contained moisture if the twine has been moistened.

Figs. 2 and 2a disclose the twine in various stages of its formation. As shown in these figures, the soft twist yarns Y are twisted together to form the round twine T, the direction of twist of the yarns in the twine being opposite to the direction of twist in the individual yarns and the twist in the individual yarns is less in the finished twine than in the yarns before being twisted into the twine. The yarns Y are of such twist before being twisted together that in the twine the twist in the individual yarns as nearly as practical approaches zero. The fibres of the yarn therefore extend nearly longitudinally of the twine and fibre breakage in the compression operation is reduced to the minimum and loss of strength in the compression operation by fibre breakage is substantially avoided. The twine emerges from the compression operation in fiat configuration as shown at F, each of the yarns Y being individually flattened as shown in Fig. 3.

The rollers M are journalled between vertical plates H3 mounted on a suitable base I1. The lower rollers I4 are grooved to receive ribs provided on the upper rollers, thus providing a rectangular space within which the twine T is confined and shaped. The journals of the upper rollers are mounted for vertical movement and springs l8 are provided for pressing the upper rollers against the lower rollers. Adjusting screws l9 provide means for adjusting the pressure exerted by the springs it on the twine passing between the rollers. Gears 20 and 2| are provided for supplying driving power to the pressure rollers [4.

The twine T may be moistened with a starch solution prior to its passage between the compression rollers to give a finished appearance to the ultimate fiat twine. The pressure applied to the twine by the rollers l4 varies according to the size of the twine and also according to the character of fibre used in the twine.

As shown in Figs. 6 and '7, the twine may be made from a single round yarn. The round yarn Y which has been spun in the usual manner is thoroughly moistened preferably with a starch solution after which it is passed through the compression apparatus shown in Figs. 4 and 5 to re-,

duce it to fiat configuration resulting in the fiat twine F. The edges of the finished twine are slightly curved but the twine is of general fiat configuration. The starch gives a finished appearance to the twine and also serves to some extent as a binder to hold the fibres together and to maintain the fiat configuration of the twine.

It is to be understood that in the multiple yarn twine, any yarns, i. e. of fibre, paper, combinations thereof, cellulosic material or other suitable material may be used; that different varieties of twist of the yarns and of the twine i. e. right or left turns, hard or soft twist and all combinations of the same may be used; and that the invention is not limited to the embodiment herein specifically described, but that various modifications may be made without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, two or more ply yarns may be substituted for the single yarns herein shown.

We claim:

1. The process of forming fiat twine which comprises forming a round twine by twisting together a plurality of fibre yarns, moistening the round twine, passing it through a succession of pressure rollers wherein it is subjected to progressively higher pressure, and simultaneously heating the twine sufilciently to drive out the contained moisture.

2. As a new article of manufacture, fiat twine composed of a plurality of individually spun soft twist yarns intertwisted with one another and pressed into fiat configuration.

3. As a new article of manufacture, fiat twine composed of a plurality of yarns spun in the same direction, intertwisted with one another in the opposite direction, and pressed into fiat configuration. v

4. The process of forming fiat twine which comprises forming a round twine by twisting together a plurality of yarns, moistening the round twine, applying pressure to the round twine to reduce it to fiat configuration and simultaneously heating the twine sufficiently to drive out the contained moisture.

ERNEST W. BROWN. ROBERT C. FARRELL. 

